Nostalgia & History > ATSF Wood Caboose questions

Hello to All!
Today I was in my local hobby shop and was looking at the Walthers Platinum Line HO ATSF wood cabooses. They look pretty good. I noticed that the roof is the same brown as the rest of the caboose.

Can anyone let me know when they started painting/coating them black?

What would the correct lens color combinations be for the marker lights as per ATSF practice?

What is the time frame for ATSF vs. AT&SF reporting marks on the cabooses?

Thanks for any and all info!

I posted your questions at STMFC, the "Steam Era Freight Cars" Yahoo Group. I should have the answers for you soon. (Yes, they include cabooses in their definition of Freight Cars.)

Here's a reply from the noted ATSF historian and modeler Richard Hendrickson:

To cite the Painting and Lettering Guide which I compiled for the Santa
Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society in 1990, an anti-slip matt
black finish was applied to way car roofs (including cupola roofs) ca.
1930 - ca. 1945 , but not on all cars. Photographic evidence is clear
that many way cars had black roofs, but that some did not. And, of
course, since most of the photographic evidence was B/W, it's often
hard to tell whether the roofs were the same color as the car body or
not.

> What would the correct lens color combinations be for the marker
> lights as per ATSF practice?

Red to the rear, amber to the sides and front.

> What is the time frame for ATSF vs. AT&SF reporting marks on the
> cabooses?"

A.T.& S.F. before 1938; A.T.S.F. 1938-'44; A T S F after 1944.

Richard Hendrickson

Thanks very much for the extra effort. The answers are clear and concise and exactly what I was looking for. That's the way this board is supposed to operate and has never failed me. Thanks again for the help!!!